Replacements for Ennis, Mayor, Cosgrove...

[Kentishgreen]

It’s been obvious since before the start of the season we needed more options up front. It’s about this time last year that most of our strikers ran out of steam and only Ennis’ goals got us there. We can’t do anything about it now but at least our fate is still largely in our hands.

 

[Balham Green]

Don't be a wazzock.

We didn't know the standard of the Championship until we started to play there.

Big change from when we were last there.

Massive difference between top and bottom of the league.

We were champions of div 1, we should have had some quality players. We did but not enough, and they were only on loan, and we didn't get any quality in during the summer break. Just Mumba and Whittaker, who were with us in div 1 anyway, so we were a division 1 team playing in the Championship.

We were not Ipswich. We were little old Plymouth Argyle.

When he came in we lost Azaz, our other quality player. Nothing we could do about it.

Foster was given the job without having the quality of our winning squad from div 1, let alone being unable to improve on what we had. Little money, and with only loans to bring in.

Hardly inviting was it?

Not only did we not get enough quality in we lost Ennis and Mayor.

 

[Kentishgreen]

We don’t need L1 or unfit players.

 

[Balham Green]

We don’t need L1 or unfit players.

Like Forshaw or Devine you mean?

 

[jimsing]

Not only did we not get enough quality in we lost Ennis and Mayor.

Couldn't afford to replace them, more like.

 

[Balham Green]

Couldn't afford to replace them, more like.

Cost us more if we go down.

 

[Mazza26]

Balham Green is right yet again.

Let's bring this thread back yet again... Sorry but i'm annoyed to be proven right. Deary deary me... the loan market is fine to add flourish but when it's to make up a team it's an accident waiting to happen.

I'm going to do a comparison to last season's squad to really make it simple for posters. I'm not sure why there are 116 threads not only on pasoti but on twitter as to why we are in a bit of a pickle, and of course the consensus is Foster to blame (laughable assumption), and that we aren't playing attacking football anymore Comical stuff. Even my 7 year old girls understand the basics...

Keepers:
We are +1 better... with Hazard

Defenders:
Pleggy / Gibson are better than Wilson / Lonwijk. Not by a million miles but anyway...
So let's give it a +1 compared to last season (including Phillips)

Wing Backs:
Sorinola / Sousa
Probably better than Conor Grant and Gillesphey
So let's give our wing backs +1 (although both of those ex players were versatile, plus we tend to play Mumba and Miller anyway, both players from last season. BUT i'll give that position a +1 anyway. I'm very generous.

Central Midfield
mmmmm we have Forshaw for lets say Butcher.... just about a +1 otherwise who is the Matete replacement.... mmmm so that's back to a zero for midfield. Not improved AT ALL! Deary me.

Attacking Midfielders:
We had Azaz last season.... Callum Wright League 1 was a far better player than C.Wright champ but let's not complicate things.... Devine let's say is Azaz replacement, perhaps the only player we can blame on Foster. What about Mayor's replacement? Nothing. Never seen him apart from Cundle under Schuey perhaps?
So overall we are now -2 for this position

Strikers:
Nothing new in this department for over a year and a half... apart from the fact that Ennis and Cosgrove aren't with us anymore.
So that's -2. Let's add Bundu in there, even though he isn't a striker at all. So back to -1

So taking into account the final points (and i've been very generous to this season's squad...) we are on ZERO DIFFERENCE. So basically the same standard to last season. Deary deary me. Basic rule of any season. Improve the squad, and if we are promoted especially to a league that is far far better then we need to improve the team dramatically. Bearing in mind whilst we somehow achieved over 100 points last campaign we weren't exceptional by any means. I actually think that's counted agaisnt us. Fans thinking we could just turn up in this league and easily achieve results.

So the overall result is that IF people want to blame anyone it's certainly not foster. The squad isn't any better than last season.

 

[Argy1e]

Mazza, that's all based on your opinions and I have to say I really don't agree with the majority of your opinions in there. You also make a point to say that Callum Wright is not the same player he was last season in terms of his impact, but there's no mention from you of the fact that Randell, Houghton and Hardie have been playing at a much higher level than we've seen from them previously and that they've all improved. You've said that Miller was our wingback last season, he wasn't. He was injured all season. As was Galloway for most of it. The squad we have available now is miles better than the squad we had available for the vast majority of last season, especially the end of last season when if you remember correctly, we didn't have Cooper, Whittaker, Azaz, Galloway. We've added extra ability with Bundu, Gibson, Phillips, Plegeuzuelo, and while you may not rate him Forshaw is a class act. To say we've not improved on last season simply isn't true. We didn't improve in January when we needed to, and the signings we made were all signed off by Foster. They took a different direction to signings we'd made previously, and it was interesting that on the podcast Hallett mentioned stats being used and said you can push a lot of things using stats and can use them how you want to interpret things differently. Under Schumacher we never signed anyone who'd never had first team experience elsewhere before, that changed under Foster, and that will have come from Foster and his view of who he wanted us to bring in. Ultimately he got the window wrong and it's costing us. He's getting the set up wrong and it's costing us. He might not be to blame in your eyes and you might think it's comical people putting the blame on him. To me, it's comical that you think this squad is no better than last season, and that you're trying to absolve him of blame.